Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama: Dear Soundararajan, Accept my pranams. To my knowledge,it is the "real" sita. If not Sri Vacana BhUShaNam.8 will become pointless and our entire sampradayam will break down! I strongly believe in the genius of Sri PiLLai lOkcArya. Anyways FYI,SVB.8: "pirAtti muRpadap pirindhadhu thannudaiya "krpayai/compassion" veLiyidugaikkAga; naduviR pirindhadhu "pArathanthryaththai/ subservience to the Lord" veLiyidugaikkAga; anantharam/later pirindhadhu "ananyArhathvaththai/exclusive dependence on the Lord" veLiyidugaikkAga". Another important thing you should know is that "sundara kANda" is the crown/heart of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana and it is packed with and rich in samskrt beauty and also love/devotion. The bhaktha Hanuman is the messenger between PerumAL and thAyAr. If one says that it was only "mAya" sita,then bhakti itself bcomes "mAya"! And leaving Sri Ramanuja sampradayam aside,all other vaiShNava sampradayams,which also believe in bhakti cult and those which claim that the "sita" who was abducted by Ravana was "mAyA",will lead to "self-contradiction". Do you catch this subtle point? I'm guessing why Gaudiya sampradayam considers the "sita" abducted by the Ravana as mAyA for the following reason: Their's is just a vaiShNava sampradayam and ours is "srivaiShNavism". Now back to explaining SVB 8: the three essential traits which ensure fruitful mediation by thAyAr/Divine Mother are 1. Compassion: for suffering masses,and hence the motive force to plead with the Lord for their salvation 2. Subservience:to the Lord so as to be able to compel the Lord's attention to her pleadings. 3. Exclusive Dependence: on the Lord,inclucating in Him,a sense of belonging and identity of interests with her. the above three traits were displayed by Sita,incarnation Sri Mahalakshmi,when thAyAr got separated from PerumAL thrice. Other devotees may enlighten you on this aspect in detail. Based on one's own "limited/unlimited" knowledge one can follow whatever one wants(if he/she happens to believe in free will). Personally I go by physics even in reliogious theory. So I consider a "religioius" theory perfect and complete if it can answer each and every aspect. Do not forget the fact that there are various versions of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana. AdikAvya by Sri Valmiki is the original/authentic and the one that comes closest to it is "kamba ramayanam" by Srikamban. So according to the AdikAya,it is not the "mAyA" sita but the "real" one. I hope bhAgavathAs will correct me if I am wrong. This is for your information: According to tulasi ramayanam,SriRama worshippd Siva in rameshvaram. Once I happened to listen to Sri HH's upanyAsam on Bhagavad Gita(some slokas). HH said that such an incidnc is not mentiond in Valmiki Ramayanam. On a different level,EmperumAnAr/Ramanuja(Rama+anuja= younger brother of Rama) learnt the esoteric meanings of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana from his maternal uncle Periya Tirumalai Nambi for an year. Emperumanar took it to his heart and implimented SriRama's dharmic system in the society but when it comes to his own personality he assumed the role of "sita". When Sriman Narayana/veda puruSha(puruSha in puruSha sUktham refers to none but Sriman Narayana) took the incarnation of SriRama, veda took the incarnation in the form of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana and "sita" is the truth. If someone says it is the "maya" sita,then it has the touch of Advaitham. Ravana didn't committ a grave sin compared to Kakasura (Jayantha who was Indra's son). So was that Sita also "mAyA" sita according to gaudiya sampradaya??? Even I attended the program at ISKCON and I have heard about the same story that you have mentioned. But I didn't see any point to discuss this issue. Because I'm very clear about my Ramanuja and hence I have strong conviction that my Ramanuja will take care of my knowledge of his sampradayam and also its implimentation. My long term goal is to write a book by connecting Modern Physics with Srivisishtadvaitam and Ramanuja Sampradayam. But Sriman Narayana has to shower His grace on me for that task to be fulfilled. One bhAgavatha(indian,initiated in ISKCON)quoted "SrirAma rAma rAmEthi" and said krishna nama is equal to 1000 namas. According to the Ishvara uvAca,it is only "Srirama" nama is equal to chanting 1000 namas and that too one should not take it literally. Sriman Narayana had made the life for some souls(who don't know samskrt and who suffer from other technical drawbacks)easier with SriRama nama. Shruthi is the authentic scripture and the rest(smrthi, epics,purAnAs etc)are secondary texts. All these secondary texts can be considered to be the truth/valid as long as they don't "conflict" with the shruthi. So finally according to the puruSha suktham(which appears in all the vedas),the puruSha/Sriman Narayana,is responsible for creation,sustentation and dissolution and hence every other name (Srirama,Srikrishna etc)are the avathAra of Sriman Narayana. In Rg veda,you will see worship being offered to different deities(there is no mention of srirama or srikrishna!)and it says agni is the lowest god and vishnu is the highest god. You being a guy,have more advantage than me,and hence can learn a lot to further your understanding. See if you can read the article "Worship your own;Respect all" by sri HH Chinna jeeyar in www.chinnajeeyar.org. Also if possible,listen to couple of or all gita jyothi discourses by Sri Chinna Jeeyar swami. This would help you tremendously. I'm not sure whether they have put the audio files on the web yet. PS:Everything is said in the spirit of knowledge and hence forgive any type of sins committed unintentionally. AzhvAr EmperumAnr JIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam NC Nppinnai
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